Tuesday, May 4, 2010

May Day

Last Saturday was May 1st. I do not remember this day being a big deal in America but here in Germany it is a day of celebration. Every town, small and large, hosts a festival from sun up to sun down. The idea is that all families are suppose to spend the day outside together and "Tanz in den Mai!" ("Dance into May!"). May 1st is also celebrated my the presenting of the Maypole. Most towns have at least one may pole near the center of town. These poles are beautiful and are covered with large streams of multi colored ribbons. The tradition is that if a boy likes a girl he shows her this by going out the night before May 1st and cutting down a small tree in the forest. He then removes all of the branches, ties ribbons to the top and delivers it to her by placing it in her garden. During Leap year it is the responsibility of the female to place the Maypole in the yard of the male that she is interested in. It was a lot of fun to walk around Erlangen and other surrounding towns looking at all of the beautiful Maypoles.

The night before May Day we heard a lot about a festival that was taking place on top of a mountain about 30 minutes away. We decided to travel up the mountain on Saturday to experience our first May Day festival. After a morning of shopping the local flea markets (which would put most flea markets in the US to shame) we jumped on a train and headed to Forcheim. Once in Forcheim we met up with a few other friends and decided to tackle that mountain. We were not sufficiently warned for what we were about to face. Since this was a family festival we were under the impression that the hike up would be a leisurely one, this was not the case. It took us a little over an hour to huff and puff it up the side of the mountain, and we were moving pretty quickly. Once we made it to the top it was all worth it. The entire top of the mountain was covered with May poles, games, rides for kids and food vendors. People were spread out on blankets all over the mountain enjoying the gorgeous views and incredible smells. We had a wonderful time!

1 comment:

Hi Phil and Sara... you don't know me and well, I don't know you BUT... you know my daughter Amy Patwa. I was looking at her blog, for the umpteenth time and noticed your blog. (I love looking at Charis). Since I LOVE Germany, I had to read your post. I am so excited for you two. I have no idea why you are there but how exciting!! I spent 2 weeks there last summer with my dear friend Judi Malzacher. It was wonderful. Of course I also spent 2 weeks in Italy with my son and his family. It is so fun reading your blog and seeing your pictures. I LOVE GERMANY!! Yes yes yes the bakery on every corner!! Have you eaten at a "basin" yet? Food there is awesome. Of course, my husband and I are now total vegan (5 months). But when I was there I ate and loved the food. I have read all of your blogs that I could. I will be following along with you and loving the pictures you post. Enjoy your time there..what a wonderful opportunity. Blessings, Nancy Markle

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About Us

We were loving life in Charlotte, NC when we were approached with the opportunity to move to Germany for work. We are now starting our adventure in Erlangen, Germany. We can not wait to explore Germany, learn the language and travel throughout Europe. We are viewing this adventure as an amazing gift and want to share it with our friends and family.

A shout out to Charlotte

When you leave home for an extended period of time you begin to think about all the things that you miss and appreciate back home. Phil and I are so blessed to have loving and supportive friends and family. It makes such a difference to receive emails and facebook messages from loved ones while we are so far from home. We wanted to remind our friends in Charlotte in particular of how much we appreciate and love them.

You all do such a great job celebrating each others accomplishments and supporting one another when needed. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives and look forward to see you all either here in Germany or back home when we visit. Thank you for the impact you have had on us. We look forward to future trips and adventures with you guys.